The Research Core's mission is to address knowledge gaps on the role of social determinants of healthincluding cultural processesas factors in the creation, reduction and elimination of health disparities with a focus on the ethnic minority populations living along the U.S.-Mexico border region. SIRC's research will continue to advance social determinants of health to include cultural processes in the reduction and elimination of health disparities using a multilevel approach. Framing health disparities as influenced by multiple levels (individual, peers, family, school, conimunity), SIRC will not only extend knowledge of how health disparities are influenced by these multiple levels but demonstrate that effective interventions employed to reduce health disparities must integrate culture and these multiple systems. The Research Core will supporting research activities and advance knowledge by providing conceptual, methodological and statistical support to health disparities research projects; supporting the development of new grant applications and the execution of research projects that further elucidate mechanisms of health disparities among racial/ethnic minorities; providing effective dissemination of health disparities' mechanisms to academic, community, and agency or provider audiences to promote translational research; providing comprehensive support for of the research needs of the Center's health disparities studies; coordinating research expertise and resources with the Research Education and Training Core to develop the next generation of health disparities scholars; collaborating with community partners and the Community Outreach/Engagement Core to promote and improve health among minority populations; and evaluating the effectiveness of the Research Core in addressing health disparities. These functions serve to create a successful scientific environment, to increase the probability of the Core's success, to allocate resources to all the stakeholders in the Center's research process, and to ultimately help reduce minority health disparities.